Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to take the lead in creating a seamless and unified know-your-customer (KYC) framework across the financial sector, highlighting the need to simplify processes for investors.
Speaking at SEBI’s foundation day event, Sitharaman said the current system requires investors to repeatedly undergo KYC verification across different financial platforms, which adds friction and reduces ease of access.
She emphasised that this duplication should be eliminated through a common and standardised KYC mechanism.
The finance minister noted that SEBI is well-positioned to drive this change, given its strong digital infrastructure, wide investor base, and institutional credibility.
She urged the regulator to work in coordination with other financial sector regulators to ensure that KYC norms are harmonised across banking, securities, insurance, and other financial services.
Sitharaman stressed that a unified KYC system would significantly improve investor experience while also strengthening the efficiency of the financial ecosystem.
She added that such a move would support the broader goal of enhancing ease of doing business in India.
Highlighting the importance of digitisation, she called for leveraging technology to make KYC processes more user-friendly, faster, and less cumbersome.
The push is also seen as a step towards deepening financial inclusion by making it easier for individuals to access a wide range of financial products without procedural hurdles.
The finance minister’s remarks come amid increasing focus on improving regulatory coordination and streamlining compliance processes in India’s rapidly expanding financial markets.
Sitharaman has earlier warned of the potential impact of Claude Mythos, Anthropic’s most advanced AI model when it comes to cybersecurity.
In a meeting with the banking stakeholders, the finance minister had flagged the unprecedented threat from the model and called for “a very high degree of vigilance, preparedness and better coordination across financial institutions and banks.”
